Pat Carey
Ceist:410 Mr. P. Carey asked the Minister for Agriculture and Food the amount of money which is reserved in the 1998 Estimates for the development of urban horse projects; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [1263/98]
Written Answers. - Urban Horse Projects.
A provision of £2.75 million has been included in the 1998 Estimates of my Department for the operation of the Control of Horses Act, 1996, the implementation of which is primarily a matter for the local authorities. From such funds, grant assistance will be made available to local authorities to assist them in discharging this function. In that context and in instances in which a local authority is itself supporting and involved in a particular urban horse project, I am prepared, on application, to make grant assistance available to the local authority to help it support the project in question. In all cases grants will be paid to the local authority rather than direct to the project and it is not envisaged that grant assistance will be offered to a project which does not, within the context of implementation of the Act, have the support and involvement of the local authority within the functional area of which it is located. It is intended that some £0.75 million of this sum referred to above will be available for these projects.